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Are You a Mainliner?

March 01, 2013

You’ve probably heard about the Netflix original series House of Cards by now. The series is not just unusual because of its A-list stars like Kevin Spacey as House Majority Whip Frank Underwood and Robin Wright as his wife, Claire. It’s not just unusual because it’s a Netflix exclusive. One of the most interesting things about this series was the decision to release all thirteen episodes of season one on the same date.

This decision is what director and producer David Fincher calls "mainlining." When discussing the series, Fincher states equivocally that the time slot viewing experience is dead, especially if viewers have alternatives, such as watching several episodes on a weekend or marathon an entire season. Although I don’t have access to Netflix’s viewer logs, there is plenty of anecdotal data on social media platforms suggesting that this is exactly how viewers are watching House of Cards. I have to admit to watching all thirteen episodes over the course of two days during a long weekend.

You’ll find many librarians who agree with Fincher’s assessment of the new, preferred way to watch a television series. We’ve been seeing patrons check out seasons of television shows still in production like Castle and 30 Rock. We’ve also seen plenty of checkouts for recently-ended series like Designing Women, The Cosby Show, and Friends. Or, maybe a little further back to All in the Family or even back to The Honeymooners.

If you want to catch up on all ten seasons of Stargate SG-1, we have that. If you don’t have premium cable channels, then all you need is a library card to watch Game of Thrones, Dexter, and Breaking Bad. If you just didn’t have time watch all of season one of Revenge, then we can get that for you. If you’re reading this blog, you may very well be what David Fincher calls a mainliner. There’s no point to being strapped into a time slot if you have access to other options, and that’s where we come in. Take a look at our catalog and see what we have. It’s okay to spend a three day weekend marathoning Dr. Who. All your friends are doing it.